Cineplex to Offer $5 Movie Tickets and $5 Popcorn on Tuesdays in February

Customers buy popcorn at a Cineplex theatre in downtown Toronto on Aug. 26, 2020. The Canadian Press/Christopher Katsarov

Cineplex theatres in Canada will be offering $5 movie tickets every Tuesday in February.

“We’re taking Tuesday pricing back to the late nineties when Canadians were running to see iconic movies,” Cineplex spokesperson Sara Moore said in a Feb. 1 press release.

“As the country’s top entertainment destination, we are delighted to give Canadians more reasons to come in from the cold to experience movie magic with friends and family this February.”

Cineplex cinemas will also be selling small bags of popcorn for $5 on Tuesday nights for moviegoers. The deal will not be available for takeout or mobile orders.

Tax will be extra on the movie tickets and popcorn, the release said.

A booking fee of $1.50 will be charged for those buying tickets online.

Scene card members will also be able to claim their 10 percent off ticket prices on Tuesday.

The discount won’t apply to any special events held by Cineplex.

Movie Attendance Drop

Cineplex’s announcement comes as movie theatre attendance remains low, after a dramatic drop during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Statista Research found that nearly 70 percent of Canadians have not gone to a movie theatre in the 12 months preceding the survey, held between July 2020 and June 2021, when pandemic restrictions were still in place in various parts of the country.

Prior to the pandemic, men under 35 years of age saw an average of 5 movies in a six-month period, Statista said. That number dropped to 2 movies in the same time period in 2022.

Women under 35 years watched 4.5 movies prior to the pandemic, and 1.6 movies in 2022.

Data also shows that box office revenue dropped by nearly 82 percent between 2019 and 2020, and despite a bounce back after the pandemic, it still has not reached pre-pandemic levels.